Locking mechanism for overhead swinging garage doors



Feb. 12, 1952 H. GRAMLlcH 2,585,30

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING GARAGE DOORS Filed March 5o, 195o 2 sHEETs-sHEET 1 F eb Filed March 30, 1950 12, 1952 L. H. GRAMLICH 2,585,110 LOOKING MEOHANISM FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING GARAGE DOORS 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 M6 rr-aV/Ay/AwynW/Avmmig 7gg/00 /42 i ze /f su?? 6 34 /NvENTo/ef ,30 5o H. GRH/#M04 /42 144;@ l M5 www Patented Feb. 12, 1952 OFFICE LOCKING MECHANISM FOR OVERHEAD SWINGING GARAGE DOORS Leo H. Gramlich, St. Louis, Mo.

Application March 30, 1950, Serial No. 152,903

Claims. (Cl. 'l0-101) The present invention pertains to novel improvements in the construction of overhead door operating mechanisms for garages and the like.

More specifically, the invention relates to a counterbalanced garage door construction of this type which may be manually operated with a minimum of eiort; which may be installed in a present day garage or incorporated in a garage to be built; and which includes mechanism whereby unauthorized opening of the door may be prevented.

In a general summary, the invention may be said to include means for pivotally mounting the door-supporting structural members; a counterweight door balancing arrangement adapted to maintain the door in any selected position intermediate the entirely closed or entirely opened position thereof; manually operable mechanism for selectively permitting or preventing swinging movements of said door about its pivotal mounting; means included in the latter mechanism for automatically latching said door against unauthorized opening thereof; and means associated with a conventional lock device whereby the insertion and turning of a key will unlock the latching means aforesaid so that the door may be easily and quickly opened.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a simple latching mechanism which automatically functions to prevent the opening of the door from outside the garage without the use of a proper key insertable into a conventional lock assembly mounted in the door, and cooperatively associated with the latching mechanism aforesaid.

A further object is -the provision of means, manually operable from within the garage, whereby opening of the door by the release of the latching mechanism may be had, and whereby the said mechanism may be immediately reset, following partial opening of said door, so as to automatically again eiect the latching thereof when brought to its closed position, as will appear.

Other features and advantages not hereinbefore set forth, will be apparent or specifically pointed out in the description of the invention to follow, reference being also had to the accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 portrays a conventional garage equipped with an overhead door construction embodying the present invention, the said door being shown in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on a larger scale, and taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, the door being shown in fully opened position; y

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section drawn to the same scale as Figs. 2 and 3, the View being taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 isa view similar to Fig. 4 with the door shown in an exemplary or optional partly opened position;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 'l is a similar vertical sectional view taken on line 'l--l of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a similar horizontal sectional View, taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a view on approximately an actual size scale of a portion of Fig. 2;

Fig. 10 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 6, the scale being similar to that of Figs. 9 and 10;

Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view taken on line I2-I2 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a view of a portion of Fig. 6, with certain parts in an alternate position;

Fig. 14 is a horizontal sectional View through the door, illustrating a conventional lock cooperatively associated with the invention;

Fig. 15 is a vertical section taken on line |5-l5 of Fig.' 14;

Fig. 16 is an end view, partly in section, of a cam member;

Fig.17 is a view, partly in section, of a device for anchoring one end of a tension spring.

With particular reference to Fig. 1, a typical garage, generally indicated by numeral 20, is portrayed more or less schematically, it being of course understood that the structural details of a garage may vary without impairing the adaptability of the instant invention thereto.

Provided in the front wall 22 of the garage, is a rectangular opening 24 for the entrance and exit of an automobile, as is understood. In the garage 2li-illustrated, this opening is defined by suitable uprights 26, an overhead lintel 28, and the oor 30, which may be of concrete as shown. Numeral 32 designates a door which normally closes the opening aforesaid. For illustrative purposes, the door 32 has been portrayed as a unitary wooden structure. Obviously it may be of metal, or partly wooden and partly metallic.

As has been hereinbefore stated, the invention may be installed in a garage already constructed, as well as in a garage to be built. For explanatory purposes, it will be assumed that the invention is incorporated in a newly built garage, so that a pair of oppositely positioned standards or posts 34 and 315 are imbedded in the concrete iioor 30 as shown.

In other words, the supports or posts 34 may be imbedded in the concrete at the outset, or in the case of an existinggarage, they maybe rigidly installed by the use of suitable brackets and so on, aiixed to said posts and to the framework of the garage, as is understood.

In the interest of clarity, similarparts appearing in the various views of the drawings will be designated left and right from the standpoint of an observer facing the closed garage "20 portrayed in Fig. l. y

Thus, with particular reference to Figs. 2, "3, '6 and 7, the left support 34 is seen to have :rigidly secured thereto, as by blt and nut assemblies 38, a horizontally disposed channel .iron member 40. Integral therewith vas shown,:or welded thereto, is an inwardly extending -boss `portion f42 :terminating in a horizontal axis trunnion, or`pivot pin 44.

Pivotally lmounted on said pin is a triangular plate 46 and a weight supporting-arm 48a washer 50 .being .interposed about saidvpin between the arm y48 and a'cotter -pin 152, 'as shown. Weight arm 48 is rigidly secured at one end to the plate 46 vbymeansof boltsr-54,is vpreferably offset-.outwardly as at 56, andhasion'eormore wveightsf slidably mounted .on the .free Een'd `i60 thereof. Each weight 58 is rigidly-secured in .place ata selected point on `thea-rm :by means of a -set screw 62. l

As' shown -in-Figs. f2 and .3, `a pair fof :rearwardly converging strut members support the door 32 on fthe left. .The drawings portray theseas angle irons, suitably fashioned soasvtobebolted as 'at V66, or .otherwise secured to -the f door, land tobe weldedpor bolted as-at I66, to th'eplate 46.

With particular reference now to Figs. i4, '5, and .8, thevright post `36 vis seen to /haverigidly secured thereto, as by bolt and nut assemblies V'|0, a vertically disposed channel :iron member A'12, Integral therewith as shown, .or -welded thereto, is an inwardly rextending lbosspoition x14 vintegral with :afhorizontal -afXis trunni'onfor p'ivotipin '16.

Pivotally .mounted on said pin u.is fa .tri-angular plate 'land a Weight-supporting-arm 80,a Washer 82 being interposed about said pin between'arm 801andfa cotter=pinv 84, asappearin iFig. 8.

With the door closed, it is noted that-"whereas the left weight Yarm 4|! -isv securedftozthe platef46 in a horizontalplane, Athe right farmf-801=is:angu' larly disposed. Inthe drawings, arm 80 is ?p'ortrayed as extending upwardly at an angleof'approximately thirty degrees from -the horizontal. Theexact degree of langularity isnot critical, but it should be not less than ten, `nor more than thirty-five degrees, rand the larm may obviously extenddownwardly if desired.

.Saidarm is rigidly secured -at one end -to plate 1.8 as by bolts .86, and-.similar toits left-counterpart, -ispreferably offset outwardlyasvat. One or .more weights 58 arer slidablymountedon the free end .9010i arm B0, the weights being maintained in selected position .thereon by set. screws 62.

.Asshown inFigs. 4 and.5, .the door 32 .is supported on the .right `in amanner .similar to that previously described with reference Ito 4the left, and the same reference numerals identify the parts.

The mechanism for locking the door in closed position is illustrated particularly in Figs. 9 through 15. It includes a latch bolt assembly, generally indicated by numeral 92 and mounted on the plate 46, and a lock assembly similarly indicated by numeral 94 and mounted in the door 32. These assemblies are in alinement and are operatively connected by means of a rotatable rod 96,`the forward end'portion of which is sup- "ported in a bearing 98, aii'ixed to door 32 and the rear end portion in an angle bracket |00 se- -cured to plate 46 by tap bolts |02 as shown, or

otherwise.

As best seen in Fig. 10, the rear end portion of rod 96 also extends through an elongated slot |04 `iol-med in a rectangular block |06. Endwise movement of the rod is prevented by a collar |66 secured thereto by set screw ||0, and by a cam member ||2 secured thereto by set screw |54.

The cammember H2 Vappears perse inFlg. .16. It includes a body portion IIB, and an annuariiange portion ||S cut awayso as to .provide oppositely disposed vertical edges |20, for a purpose `to appear hereinafter.

rEhe-internal configuration of Vblock |06 is best seen iii-Fig. 11. Formed therein, in addition to slot 404, are .threaded apertures |22 and |24. and a pair of longitudinal lbores |26. Aperture 62 receives the threaded shank portion of ya iat-ch boit |28 preferably beveled off on its underside as at |30, for areason to appear. uAn opening .53| is provided in the -plate 46 to slidably receive the said bolt.

Numeral |32 designates a manually rotatable member `pivotally vmounted on the smooth shank portion of -a screw |34, the threaded shank .portion of `which engages aperture |24. Preferably, za washer |36 is .interposed between the head of vscrew |34 and member |32.

In each of the bores |26, there is a tension spring A|38 for normally biasing the block |06 outwardly, that is, -to the left. The inner end of 'each spring is anchored to a vertical pin |40 presstted into vthe block as shown. The other endof each spring |36 is anchored to the apertured extremity |42 of an eye-member |44, shown 'per se in Fig. 17. Tap bolts |46 serve to '-afx 4the members |44 to the plate 46.

With particular reference to Figs. 1 'and 14, numeral f|48 yindicates a 4conventional key-operable lock mechanism of the cylinder type. As lis well known, this Vtype of lock includes 'an elongated iatconnecting bar |50 Awhich 'projects beyond the key-inserting opposed face of the housing V|52. Upon insertion of the proper key and thereafter turning same, ythe-connecting bar will rotate, as is well understood.

With reference also to Fig. 15, it is noted that the .forward end of rod 96 is bifurcated, that is, slotted as at |54, to receive the bar |50, so that `rotary/.motion of said bar will be transmitted to said rod, and to the cam member ||2 attached to the latter.

Normally, that y.is when door 32 is closed, each of the cam edges |20 .is adjacent one of a. pair of vertically spaced and allned pins |56, each ci which .is .presstted into block |06, and projects beyond the front .face thereof. as appears to best advantage in Fig. 9.

Operation Normally, vdoor -32 is closed, so that the'parts occupy the positions portrayed in Figs. 1, Zand 4. At such time, the door rests upon floor30,

with its upper marginal portion against lintel 28. Manually rotatable member |32 is vertically disposed, so that in response to the tension inherent in springs |38, bolt |28 projects beneath stationary abutment channel 40. Cam member i H2 is positioned as portrayed in Fig. 16, with its edges i253 in contact with the left peripheral portion of pins |56.

Obviously therefore, the door cannot be moved to open position, either from within or from without the garage. In other words, as will appear, in order to permit opening the door from within the garage, manual withdrawal of the latch bolt 28 from beneath the abutment 40 is requisite; in order to permit opening the door from without, mechanical withdrawal of said bolt by the insertion and partial rotation of the proper key in lock |48 is requisite.

Assuming that a person within the garage desires to open the door, he grasps the member |32 and pulls it in his direction against the tension of springs |32 until said member can be rotated approximately ninety degrees. This simple operation withdraws bolt i 28 from beneath what may be termed keeper member 4Q. and maintains it so. Attention is directed to Figs. 6 and 13 for clarication. With member |32 in the horizontal position it occupies in Fig. 13, angular member |02 releasa-bly maintains said bolt in its retracted status.

A slight downward pressure on end 60 of arm 48 will raise the door for example, to approximately the position portrayed in Fig. 5, in whichl position it will remain indeiinitely because of the perfect counterbalancing arrangement resulting from the provision of a horizontal, and an angularly disposed weight arm.

Assuming that the person within the garage desires to swing the door to the entirely open or overhead position depicted in Fig. 3, the application of further slight downward pressure on the arm i3 is all that is required.

In order to set the assembly 92 for automatically latching the door again, the member |32 is now returned to its vertical position. Immediately thereupon, the springs |32 cause the block 06 to snap outwardly, or to the left, thus returning bolt |28 to the position illustrated in Fig. 11. Reference to Fig. 7 is also invited in this connection.

It is noted that thus far, because of the slot |04, rod 9B and all elements associated therewith have been immobile.

Closing of the door from outside the garage may now be accomplished by the application of slight; downward pressure to the bottom edge, and thereafter to the body portion of the door 32, as is understood.

As the balanced door swings downwardly in an arcuate path about the opposed trunnions 44 and 15, the projecting latch bolt |28 strikes the upper edge of the abutment member lll just before the door reaches its closed position. As a result, the block lll, and together with it, the bolt |28 moves to the right against the restraining action oi springs |38, this action being facilitated by the beveled underside iii@ of the bolt.

As the door continues its descent, the extremity of bolt |28 rides across the inner face of the member lili, until momentarily later, when the bottom of the door reaches the floor Sii, the springs |33 Ycause bolt E22 to again project beneath the abutment member et, as in Fig. 1l. Thus the door is automatically latched in closed position.

In order to permit opening of the door from without, a key must be inserted in lock |48, and turned either to the right or to the left, the direction depending upon the design thereof, as is understood.

The present invention provides for successful operation regardless of direction, by the inclusion of the pair of opposed pins |56, and the pair of opposed edges |28 on the cam member ||2, so that rotation of rod 9B to the right or tothe left, will eiect the withdrawal of bolt |28 from beneath the abutment member 40.

It is assumed for explanatory purposes, that the device |48 is operable by turning the key to the right, so that Fig. l2 portrays the withdrawn status of the bolt |28 at the end of the turning operation. i

Immediately following, or simultaneously with, the turning of the key as is understood, slight manual pressure exerted against the door above the lock |48 will cause said door to swing upwardly a few degrees whereupon the key may be extracted. Additional pressure will swing the door 32 again to its overhead position illustrated in Fig. 3.

It should be apparent that after removal of the key from the lock |48, bolt |28 after passing beyond the abutment member t0, reverts to its Fig. 11 position, so that subsequent closing of the door will automatically latch the same as hereinbefore described.

It is noted that should it be desired to permit opening and closing of the door either from without or within the garage at will, it is only necessary to set the assembly 92 in the Fig. 13 position thereof.

From the foregoing, it should be manifest that the present invention incorporates novel mechanism adapted to attain all of its objectives.

Obviously,- the precise details of construction illustrated and described admit of modifications without departure from the principles of my invention. For example, it may be desirable to mount assembly 92 on the horizontal centerline of plate 45, in which case the bolt |28 may enter and be withdrawn from a suitable opening provided in the vertical face portion of member 40.

In other words, the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with the swingably mounted supporting structure of a gar-age door, said structure including a pair of rearwardly converging strut members each rigidly secured at one end to said door, and at the other end to a triangular plate rotatable about a horizontally disposed trunnion, said plate having an opening therein: means to prevent swinging movements of said supporting structure about said trunnion for opening the door, said means comprising a stationary horizontal keeper member from which said trunnion projects; and latching mechanism mounted on said plate, said mechanism including a spring actuated latch bolt normally projecting through said opening in the plate and into engagement with the underside of said keeper.

2. In combination with the swingably mounted supporting structure of a garage door, said structure including a pair of rearwardly converging strut members each rigidly secured at one end to' said door, and at the other end to a triangular plate rotatable about -a horizontally disposed trunnion7 said plate having an opening therein: means to prevent swinging movements of said vsupporting structure labout said trunnion for opening-'the door, said means comprising a stationary horizontal keeper member from which said trunnion projects; latching mechanism mounted on said plate, vsaid mechanism including-a spring actuated latch bolt normally projecting through said opening in the plate and into engagement with the underside of said keeper; and means manu-ally operable from within the garage for `withdrawing said bolt from beneath said keeper and releasably maintaining same in withdrawn position to permit swinging movements of said door supporting structure.

3. The construction set forth in claim 2, wherein the means for releasabiy maintaining the latch bolt in withdrawn position comprises an-angular abutment member rigidly secured to the 7triangular plate aforesaid adjacent slide block included in said latching mechanism, said abutment member normally projecting beyond one end of said block, and said bolt being secured to and projecting beyond the opposite end thereof; and a 'manually rotatable member mounted on the smooth shank portion of a screw passing therethrough into engagement with a threaded aperture in said block, said rotatable member being adapted, following partial rotation thereof, to `engage the projecting edge of said abutment member when the end of said slide block is brought ilush with said edge.

4. In combination with the swingaoly mounted supporting structure of a garage door, said strr-.cture including -a pair of rearwardly converging strut members each rigidly secured. at one end to said door, and at the other end to a triangular plate :rotatable about a horizontally disposed trunnion, said plate vhaving an opening therein: means to prevent swinging movements of said Supporting structure about said trunnion for opening the door-,said means comprising a stationary horizontal keeper' member from which said -trunnion projects; latching mechanism mounted on `the plate,-said mechanism including aspring actuated latch bolt normally projecting through said opening and into engagement with the underside of said keeper; and keyoperable 8 mechanism mounted in the .door and :operatively connected with the latch bolt .for effecting the temporary withdrawalof said bolt from beneath said keeper to permit swinging movements of said .door supporting structure.

5. The construction set forth in claim v'4, wherein the key-operable mechanism operatively connected with the latch bolt 'for effecting 'the temporary withdrawal of said bolt'from beneath the keeper includes: a lock device mounted in the door and incorporated 'in a cylindrical casing having a key insertable face portion outside the door, a key rotatable velongated vfiat connecting bar projecting beyond the opposite 'face of vsaid casing, .a rotatablerod the forward end portion of which is supportedin 4a bearing affixed to said door and the rear end `portion of which is supported in'an opening formed in Ian angular member secured to the triangular plate aforesaid, a slot provided in the forwardendrof said rodfor the reception of Athe projectingbar of the lock device, and a cam member vaiiixedto the rod near the rear end thereof, said cam being adapted upon rotation of the rod in either direction, to engage one or the other of a .pair of spaced vertically valined pinsprojecting from one side of a slide block which carries the latch bolt 'aforesaid.

LEO H. GRAMLICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Lle of this patent:

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